Mark 7:2

They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with their hands ‘defiled,’ by which they meant unwashed.

Open English Bible (US)

In The King James Version

And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

In Context

1One day the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.

3(For the Pharisees, and indeed all strict Jews, will not eat without first scrupulously washing their hands, holding in this to the traditions of their ancestors.

Read all of Mark 7

Cross References

Matthew 23:23Alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.

Acts 10:28“You are doubtless aware that it is forbidden for a Jew to be intimate with a foreigner, or even to enter his house; and yet God has shown me that I ought not to call anyone defiled or unclean.

Romans 14:14Through my union with the Lord Jesus, I know and am persuaded that nothing is defiling in itself. A thing is ‘defiling’ only to the person who holds it to be so.

Matthew Henry on Mark 7:2-24

The Traditions of the Elders; The Worst Defilement from Within. 1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they… Read the whole commentary →

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